Walter s



W. s. APPLETON. Plate-Printing Press.

No. 210,741'. 'Patented Dec. 10.1878.

:In u

UNITED STATES ATEN.

WALTER S. APPLETON, vOF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMEN'TIN PLATE-PRINTING PRESSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 210,741, dated December10,1878; application filed September 14, 1878i To all whom it mayconcern:

Be it known that I, WALTER S. APrLnroN, of New York, in the county ofNew York and State of New York, have invented certain Im- Y provementsinPlatePrintingPresses, ot' which the following is a specification:

This invention relates to plate printing presses in which the cleaningor wiping and the polishing of the engraved plate previous to eachimpression are eected by automatic means.

In the practical operation of plate-printin g presses of this charactergreat difficult-y has been experienced in effecting the wiping of theengrcved plate with that thoroughness and nicety indispensable to theproduction ot good, clean, and sharp impressions. It is owing to thisdifficulty, mainly, that plate-printing is still very largely practicedwith hand-presses, where the wiping` is done by hand.

Among the best automatic wipers known anterior to my invention may bementioned the traveling endless belt and the revolving drum.

The traveling endless belt was arranged around small rollers, one ot'which was so located as to cause the belt to wipe the plate in passing,and the belt was driven from one of the other rollers. The revolvingdrum had an elastic or somewhat yielding backing under asurface-covering of leather.

In the practical application of these two styles of wipers it wasascertained that both were defective, and could not be relied upon atall for steady work.

After patient daily experiments for many months with a full-sized`plate-printing press, at this day in full practical operation, I finallydevised a wiper which has proved a perfect success, and which is nowdoing steady work day in, day out. This improved wiper consti tutes theprincipal feature of my invention.

It consists of an endless cloth or woven belt combined withapositively-drivendrum,around which the belt is lapped far enough byguiderollers to give the drum the required tract-ive power upon the beltfor running it with precision and uniformity. The drum has a some# whatelastic or yielding surface, and brings the endless belt in contact withthe engraved plate to wipe oli:1 the surplus ink.

The annexed drawing represents a vertical longitudinal section of areciprocating plateprinting press provided with my improved wiper.

The engraved plato is secured upon the reciprocating bed A, by which itis moved al ternately under the inking apparatus B to be inked, andunder the impression-cylinder C to make impressions.

On its return from the inking apparatus the engraved plate is wiped, toremove the surplus ink, by the wiper-belt D, running in a contrarydirection. The wipcrloelt is driven by the large drum E, which islocated directly over the path of the engraved plate, and sustaius thebelt at the point where it wipes said plate.

The wiper-belt is made of cloth, or other woven fabric suitable for thispurpose, and encircles a large portion of the surface of drum E, so thatthe latter has great tractive power on the belt.

In connection with drum E, aseries ot' guiderollers, F, are used tosustain and direct the wiper-belt.

The drum Eis constructed with a surface ot yielding material, G, so asto make it somewhat elastic, in order that the wiper-belt may wipe withan elastic touch.

A knife, H, scrapes the surplus ink from the wiper-belt direct-ly, asshown in Fig. 1, where it bears on the belt between two adjacentrollers. The knife H has a dull edge, of

course.

llhe cleaning of the engraved plate is com pleted by the polisher L,constructed as shown, and operating in connection with the usual endlesspolisher belt M, impregnated with whiting, as usual.

As the general construction and mode of op= eration of plate-printingpresses of the chara acter illustrated in the drawing hereto annexed iswell known to persons skilled in the art, it is deemed unnecessarytoenter upon a description ot the same.

My invention may be applied to other styles of plate-printing pressesnow known,

In testimony WhereofIhave signed mynalne to the foregoing specificationin the presence What l claim as my invention, and desire of twosubscribing Witnesses.

to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A Wiper for a plate -printing press, oomposed, substantially as beforeset forth, of am endless fibrous Wiper-belt and a revolvingelastioally-surfaeed drum, which drives the belt and brings it inContact with the plate.

WALTER S. /APPLETON v Witnesses B. E. J. Enns, N, GALLAN.

